Thursday, August 18, 2011

Strangled By Regulatory Environmental Justice

﻿ ﻿ ﻿﻿﻿﻿ The Environmental Protection Agency has a new directive along with many other US Government agencies.

In a news release from August 4, 2011 the EPA announced, "Obama Administration Advances Efforts to Protect Health of U.S. Communities Overburdened by Pollution / Federal Agencies Sign Environmental Justice Memorandum of Understanding"

﻿The news release ends with this paragraph, "...The following agencies signed the EJ MOU: Environmental Protection Agency; White House Council on Environmental Quality; Department of Health and Human Services; Department of Justice; Department of Agriculture; Department of Commerce; Department of Defense; Department of Education; Department of Energy; Department of Homeland Security; Department of Housing and Urban Development; Department of Interior; Department of Labor; Department of Transportation; Department of Veterans Affairs; General Services Administration; and Small Business Administration."

The above list of agencies is a signal for all Agencies that are, as I write this blog, all of these agencies are busy writing more regulations to insure that they are following, writing, and actively engaged in producing 1,000's of pages of more Federal Regulations to expand the the Paradigm of Environmental Justice that Obama and his administration are pursuing.

If you are not aware of the definition of Environmental Justice it can be found on this page of the Environmental Protection Agency, just down from the top right hand corner, and it states, "Environmental Justice is the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies. EPA has this goal for all communities and persons across this Nation. It will be achieved when everyone enjoys the same degree of protection from environmental and health hazards and equal access to the decision-making process to have a healthy environment in which to live, learn, and work."

The above link and all of it's associated links should terrify you with the intent of the Obama Administration through regulation to control every aspect of the Economy. It is the intent of the Obama Administration, to throttle United States growth, undermine your freedom, by crippling the pursuit of happiness of every American.

This is an important study that every Patriot should not only read but have as a bookmark:Ten Thousand CommandmentsAn Annual Snapshotof the Federal Regulatory State2011 Edition by Clyde Wayne Crews Jr.

• An evaluation of the U.S. federal regulatory enterprise by economists Nicole V. Crain and W. Mark Crain finds annual regulatory compliance costs hit $1.752 trillion in 2008.• Given 2010’s actual government spending or outlays of $3.456 trillion, the regulatory “hidden tax” stands at an unprecedented 50.7 percent of the level of federal spending itself.• The dramatic reality that regulations and deficits now each greatly exceed $1 trillion a year is an unsettling new development for the United States. In 2008, regulatory costs were more than double that year’s $459 billion budget deficit. However, the deficit spending surge to more than $1 trillion since 2009 has catapulted the deficit to a level approaching the costs of regulation.• Government spending’s relationship to government regulation bears scrutiny. Unchecked government outlays and deficit spending translate, in later years, into greater regulation as well. We are seeing that expansion happen now.• Regulatory costs exceed all 2008 corporate pretax profits of $1.463 trillion.• Regulatory costs dwarf corporate income taxes of $157 billion. • Regulatory costs tower over the estimated 2010 individual income taxes of $936 billion by 87 percent—nearly double the level.• Regulatory costs of $1.752 trillion absorb 11.9 percent of the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP), estimated at $14.649 trillion in 2010.• Combining regulatory costs with federal FY 2010 outlays of $3.456 trillion reveals a federal government whose share of the entire economy now reaches 35.5 percent.• The Weidenbaum Center at Washington University in St. Louis and the Regulatory Studies Center at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., jointly estimate that agencies spent $55.4 billion (on budget) to administer and police the regulatory enterprise. Adding the $1.752 trillion in off-budget compliance costs brings the total regulatory burden to $1.8 trillion.• The 2010 Federal Register stands at an all-time record-high 81,405 pages.• Federal Register pages devoted specifically to final rules rose by 20 percent, from 20,782 in 2009 to 24,914.• In 2010, agencies issued 3,573 final rules, compared with 3,503 in 2009.• Notably, the number of proposed rules increased even more than the number of final rules, from 2,044 in 2009 to 2,439 in 2010, an increase of 19.3 percent.• The annual outflow of roughly 4,000 final rules has meant that nearly 38,700 rules have been issued since 2001.• While regulatory agencies issued 3,573 final rules in 2010, Congress passed and the president signed into law a comparatively few 217 bills. Considerable lawmaking power is delegated to unelected bureaucrats at agencies.• According to the 2010 “Regulatory Plan and the Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions” in the Federal Register, which lists federal regulatory actions at various stages of implementation, 58 federal departments, agencies, and commissions have 4,225 regulations in play at various stages of implementation, an increase of 4.5 percent.• Of the 4,225 regulations now in the pipeline, 224 are “economically significant” rules wielding at least $100 million in economic impact. Assuming those rulemakings are primarily regulatory (even if some are deregulatory) and cost only $100 million rather than multiples of that figure, that number implies roughly $22 billion yearly in future offbudget regulatory effects.• “Economically significant” rules increased by 22 percent over 2009’s 184 rules. The count had increased by 2 percent between 2008 and 2009, following 13- and 14-percent increases in the prior two years. • Of the 4,226 regulations now in the works, 845 affect small business, an 11.5-increase over 758 in 2009.• High federal budgetary spending now likely implies higher future regulatory costs as well.• The number of final “major rule” reports issued by agencies and reviewed by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) has surged. The 99 rules of 2010 represent the highest number since this tabulation began. Five years ago, there were 56 such reports.• The five most active rule-producing agencies—the departments of the Treasury, Health and Human Services, Commerce, and Agriculture, along with the Environmental Protection Agency— account for 1,820 rules, or 43 percent of all rules in the Unified Agenda pipeline.

If you are wondering why this nation is in a recession, (I believe the beginning of a depression) and the austerity we all face, the lack of jobs, the lack of manufacturing, the answer is that this nation, our freedom and economic well being are under attack by Regulators.

Under Obama, not only Cabinet Secretaries, but CZARS (outside of legislative overview) are busy throttling this nation's economy, and actively undermining the United States.

It is the intent of every agency through policy to add revenue by Regulation.

With the alarming number of Regulations waiting for Congressional Approval, it would take a staff of thousands to brief our Congressional and Senate leadership for our elected officials to be fully informed adequately to the breadth of interference in United States commerce and financial well being.

Congress and not unelected bureaucrats should be writing US coded law.

This level of interference in commerce and the pursuit of happiness is not what the Founders of this Great Republic had in mind.

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****Addendum I am adding this link fromNational Review OnlineWritten by Andrew Stiles, what the Republican controlled house will roll out to stop 10 job killing Regulations when they return in September. While it is a drop in the bucket, it is a start. I do not expect if they pass any of these items (and it could either be piecemeal or all in one bill, that Senator Harry Reid will ever allow it to the Senate Floor. Senator Reid will simply call a vote to table this agenda. Nothing will improve or change for America and Jobs and the outrageous cost of uber-regulation, until we control the Senate and the Presidency.

3 comments:

Melody, your well researched and cited article is a valid repudiation of and warning about the danger of soviet style regulatory control of the population. It can only be done when the population and their representatives in our government are overwhelmed by the volume of the attack.

This is classic Cloward-Piven theory applied to regulations with a theme. The only cure is honorable representation of the people. This election is absolutely critical to America's future. We must win.

EXCELLENT POST. This is simply tyranny. When the EPA decided they could impose Cap and Trade as a regulation - it became clear that there is a NEVER ENDING attempt to subvert the political process.

And - like with Cap and Trade - if it sees the light of publicity, they will break it apart into smaller bits to implement wherever they can.

I have a friend very, very high up in the energy industry who isn't sure all of this governmental strangulation can be undone. More and more he has a belief the only way to fix it is to start over. I don't believe that. Yet.

But we MUST elect officials committed to returning our government to pre-1918 constitutionalism.

I'm not so sure even Ross Perot could be elected against Obama or any Dem after the meltdown they've accelerated. It is CRITICAL we get it right - which candidate we are getting behind AND WHY....

I understand my friends who want to scrap the whole government and start over. The encroaching burdens will take two administrations to undue otherwise.

Stunned to see the cost of these burdens in the trillions. We need to make sure our representatives aren't just working on reducing the deficit and restructuring entitlements - but restructuring all of these departments.

Love Palin for being first to go on record demanding elimination of both DOE's.